By removing language barriers and opening the doors to enriched communication, children and students of any age are able to experience more of the world around them, think complexly, and engage with a wider audience of peers. At Musicworks, we’re passionate about helping parents equip their children with valuable life skills and partnering with students of all ages and backgrounds to enhance the learning experience.
Below, we’ll take a look at some of the top benefits of learning another language from a young age, as well as the benefits of choosing Musicworks for online or in-person English and secondary language instruction. Read on to learn more!
Benefits of Learning Additional Languages
Enhanced Academic Performance
The correlation between language studies and increased academic performance is quite astounding, with several reports indicating that language learners tend to do much better than their counterparts across a wide range of academic subjects. This may be, in part, because linguistic and language studies boost student literacy, which contributes to a greater foundational understanding of core concepts in multiple subjects, including both math and science.
Improved Focus and Concentration
Did you know that spending as little as an hour a week learning a different language has proven benefits when it comes to focus and concentration? Those who study for approximately five hours a week or more notice even greater improvements when it comes to concentration. Best of all, studies show that this boost in focus isn’t just limited to younger students. Research has shown that learners from 18-78 benefit equally from language studies, highlighting the importance of lifelong learning!
Retention and Memory Benefits
Learning a new language actively engages one’s memorization skills while activating different centres within the brain that assist with long-term retention and recall. Children and adults who speak more than one language regularly perform better on memory tests than those who speak one language, and just like focus and concentration, the benefits are lifelong!
Strong Communication Skills
It comes as no surprise that when you increase your ability to communicate effectively in different languages, you enhance your ability to communicate overall. What you may not anticipate, however, is that growing your language skills is also directly tied to an increase in empathy. Empathy plays a key role in how individuals connect and engage with each other and encourages key traits like active listening, which allows for knowledge and better understanding overall. These communication skills help with academic performance and our ability to have a healthy, fulfilling social life as we continue to grow and develop.
Creative Expression
Finally, language skills, whether they be English, French, Spanish or any of the many dialects that exist, are essential for creative exploration and creation. Children with a multilingual background exhibit enhanced problem-solving skills and mental flexibility than their monolingual counterparts, and it is thought that this stems from the brain’s need to translate, switch between languages and apply complex thought patterns to convey the same message and meaning between dialects.
Increased Career Opportunities
Multi-lingual learning opens the door to a bold world of possibility for children and students of all ages to explore and engage with and also affords them with the opportunity to pursue advanced career positions later on in life that may require knowledge of more than one dialect. When paired with the additional skills garnered from language study, those pursuing secondary dialects are a step ahead of the rest of their competition, poised to make the most of their existing knowledge and well-equipped to continue growing.
English and Language Tutoring with Musicworks Canada
Ready to expand your child’s mind and open the doors to a bigger, brighter future? Musicworks Canada is here to help with online and in-person English and language tutoring classes. With 20+ locations across Western Canada and a team that offers over 40 years of experience to parents and little ones, we provide industry-leading, personalized instruction that you can trust to help fulfil and grow your child’s potential.
Learn more about our English and multi-lingual tutoring here or by contacting our team today!
